Getting Started Finding Funding

[Defenestration a la Mode]

I was waondering if anyone had general advice on how to start looking for funding as a graduate applicant (i.e. I haven't yet been accepted). It seems to me that I haven't really found much that would apply in my case, and that most funding seems aimed at people already in grad school. Is that pretty accurate? I know most schools that I want to go to offer funding for the first few years, either through waived tuition or RAs/TAs, but I was wondering if there's much in terms of external funding I could look for now, and how I would go about trying to find that. A beginner's guide is basically what I need. Thanks.

[anthropologygeek]

You could apply for fellowships and then once accepted you can look outside your department for funding at the school

[padthai234]

FLAS (foreign language and area studies) and NSF GRFP (the graduate research fellowship program) are both open to grad school applicants (and obviously you have to get accepted to the school to get the grant). GRFP deadline has passed for this year, but I think the FLAS deadline is in February. You might also check Ford Foundation (if you're eligible). Basically you are looking for "predoctoral" fellowships... a lot of them you can apply to before getting accepted to the school, as well as in your first and second years (or forever, with respect to FLAS)